Asian brands top annual Consumer Reports rankings on reliability

Honda, Acura, Porsche and Scion topped the annual Consumer Reports reliability survey released on Tuesday. At the other end of the spectrum, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz were deemed among the worst. Findings are based on responses about 1.3 million vehicles owned or leased by subscribers to Consumer Reports or its Web site.

New July 2009 issue of CAR Magazine

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 20 May 2009 12:15 CAR Magazine's new July 2009 issue of CAR Magazine is now on sale. This magazine has a Nurburgring slant to it, as we end the pub argument once and for all: which is faster around the 'Ring, the Porsche 911 or Nissan GT-R? Plus we drive all the month's key debutants and bag a handful of exclusive stories you won't read anywhere else.

New Mercedes S-Class Plug-in Hybrid to debut at Frankfurt Motor Show

The new Mercedes S-Class (pictured) will arrive with a plug-in hybrid version in September We’ve known Mercedes were planning a plug-in hybrid version of the new S-Class as far back as 2009, and it now appears it will debut – as a 2014 model – at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September. When Mercedes revealed the Vision S500 Plug-in Hybrid Concept at Frankfurt in 2009, they had fitted it with a V6 petrol engine mated to a 44kw motor and a bank of lithium-ion batteries, and promised the hybrid S-Class would do 90mpg, have emissions of under 75g/km and manage 18 miles in EV mode. That means the hybrid S-Class would have performance comparable to the V8 petrol-engined S500 but attract no BIK or VED in the UK.